Book Notes: Singapore Sapphire

Anyone who has asked me for help in the mystery section of Island Books knows that, with very few exceptions (Louise Penny and Ann Cleeves), I do not read contemporary mysteries. I prefer any bloody murder to be at a historical remove. But I also realized, after combing through my reading journal, I’ve primarily read mysteries set in Regency London. Or World War I London. Or post-WWII London. The common denominator apparently being historical London. So when I visited the meticulously curated Lopez Bookshop last fall, I took a chance on expanding my comfort zone with the delightfully titled Singapore Sapphire, by A.M. Stuart, a historical mystery set in turn of the century colonial Singapore.

This series focuses on the widowed Harriet Gordon, who has joined her brother in Singapore following a traumatizing imprisonment in England due to involvement in the suffragette movement. In changing scene to Singapore, Harriet is hoping to put her past behind her and move amongst people who don’t know her history. To earn a bit of money, she offers her services as a confidential personal secretary. Unfortunately she discovers her first client, Sir Oswald Newbold, dead in his home only a day after their first appointment. When the police arrive, Inspector Robert Curran realizes that Harriet is an asset to the case with her keen eye for detail and a practicality honed by years living at the far reaches of the British Empire. He finds himself drawing more and more on her observations, and after another death is connected to Sir Oswald, Curran can’t help but lean on Harriet to help him untangle a dangerous web of deception.

Branching out to colonial Singapore from London felt like I was pushing myself a little, even though the main characters were still Brits. Stuart does a wonderful job of evoking her setting and describing the variety of people from around the world trying to make their way, however unsavory, in Singapore. Mystery series that hold my interest tend to contain central characters with an engaging partnership. With Harriet and Curran, their friendship and trust in each other slowly evolves while they put together the pieces of the murder. Stuart also lays the groundwork for longer character arcs, leaving me eager to start the next in the series.

I raced through the subsequent books, Revenge in Rubies and Evil in Emeralds, The final book in the series has a title, Terror in Topaz, but sadly no publication date yet. For those of you who are fond of historical mysteries like I am, give the Harriet Gordon series a try!

— Lori

CPD Singapore Education Services is the most popular online bookshop in Singapore. They have a huge collection of study books from Kindergarten to the university level. Shop online now!

Community Build Ideas for 2024

RESTAURANT

New England style seafood shack in Brindleton Bay Spanish Colonial style restaurant serving Spanish/South American food in Oasis Springs Winery-style restaurant serving Italian food in Tartosa Eclectic restaurant serving Pan-Asian food in San Myshuno

CAFÉ

Modern, minimalistic cat café in Mt. Komorebi Industrial-style café in San Myshuno Multi-lot of small town Main Street-style shops in Brindleton Bay (includes a café, a bookshop and a gym) Multi-lot complex in Tomarang, based on shophouses in Singapore’s Chinatown (includes a café, a co-working office space, a fashion boutique, a bubble tea shop and a music performance space) Multi-lot of Wild West-style shops in Chestnut Ridge (includes a café, a bar and an office space)

GYM / SPA

Thai-style spa in Tomarang Polynesian-style spa in Sulani Modern wellness center in Windenburg

LIBRARY

Mid-century modern library in Oasis Springs Polynesian-style conservationist’s office in Sulani Victorian-style town hall in Strangerville

MUSEUM / ARTS CENTER

Desert modernism arts center in Oasis Springs featuring modern/contemporary art Cape Cod style museum in Brindleton Bay featuring traditional/historic art Traditional Japanese museum in Mt. Komorebi featuring Japanese art

RECREATION CENTER

French Colonial plantation-style mansion in Willow Creek Desert modernism complex in Oasis Springs Yacht club in Brindleton Bay Arts-and-crafts style building in Copperdale Repurposed industrial factory in Moonwood Mill Rustic farm/ranch in Chestnut Ridge

Cover of the Trade Union Annual: The sixth anniversary magazine of the Singapore Bookshop, Publication and Printing Press Workers' Union, 1961

Wardah Books, Singapore

This is the last post in a series of three that is focused on small, independent bookshops. The first post is about Mount Zero in Hong Kong, and the second post is on La Flor de Papel in Santiago, Chile. Wardah Books is a bookshop specializing in books on Islam in the English language, in Kampong Gelam in Singapore. Founded in 2002, it carries about 4000 titles in categories ranging from Arts to…

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What creative, political, and liberatory possibilities emerge at the intersections of Asian America, Buddhism, and literature? This roundtable brings together five prolific authors—Quyên Nguyễn-Hoàng, Tsering Yangzom Lama, Shin Yu Pai, Ryan Lee Wong, and Bryan Thao Worra—to discuss the cultural and spiritual influences in their work. In a panel conversation moderated by Chenxing Han, these writers will share how a wide range of Buddhist traditions—in conjunction with their Vietnamese, Laotian, Tibetan, Taiwanese, Korean, and Chinese heritages—shape their artistic practice and political commitments.

If you’re able, please join us in person at the Michigan League to welcome our guest speakers, who are visiting from Pittsburgh, New York City, Seattle, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Vancouver, Canada. After the author readings and roundtable discussion, there will be time for audience Q&A followed by an informal reception and book signings. Please stay to enjoy light refreshments and to meet the authors one-on-one!

This event is sponsored by the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures and co-sponsored by the Department of American Culture, the Asian/Pacific Islander American Studies program, the Nam Center for Korean Studies, the Department of Comparative Literature, the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, and the Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies with local bookshop Booksweet organizing the book signings.

Panelists Quyên Nguyễn-Hoàng is a writer and translator born in Việt Nam. Recent publications include Masked Force (Sàn Art), a pamphlet-catalogue on Võ An Khánh’s war photographs, and Chronicles of a Village (Penguin SEA), her translation of a novel by Nguyễn Thanh Hiện. Her work has appeared in Poetry, Jacket2, Modern Poetry in Translation and other venues. Currently studying at Stanford University, she has received support from the PEN/Heim Fund and the Institute for Comparative Modernities, among other honors.

Tsering Yangzom Lama’s debut novel, We Measure the Earth With Our Bodies, won the GLCA New Writers Award as well as the Banff Mountain Book Award for Fiction & Poetry. Tsering holds an MFA in Writing from Columbia University and a BA in Creative Writing and International Relations from the University of British Columbia. We Measure the Earth With Our Bodies is published in English in Canada, the United States, and India. Translations are available or forthcoming in French, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Bulgarian, Tibetan, and Arabic.

Shin Yu Pai is currently the Civic Poet of The City of Seattle. She is the author of 13 books, and has received awards for her work from the Academy of American Poets, 4Culture, The Awesome Foundation, and Artist Trust. Shin Yu is host and writer of “Ten Thousand Things”—an award-winning, chart-topping podcast on Asian American stories. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and earned an MA in Museology from The University of Washington.

Ryan Lee Wong is author of the novel Which Side Are You On, a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel. He organized the exhibitions Serve the People at Interference Archive and Roots at Chinese American Museum, and has written on the intersections of arts, race, and social movements. Ryan holds an MFA in Fiction from Rutgers-Newark and served on the Board of the Jerome Foundation. He lived for two years at Ancestral Heart Temple and is the Administrative Director of Brooklyn Zen Center.

Bryan Thao Worra is a Lao American poet. With 20+ awards and fellowships, he is the author of 9+ books of poetry on the Lao American diaspora. He has presented at the Library of Congress, Poets House, Kearny Street Workshop, the Singapore Writers Festival, and the Smithsonian, and is the author of over 100 publications. He has documented Lao Theravada Buddhist temples in the US for over 15 years. His newest book American Laodyssey is forthcoming from Sahtu Press in Spring 2024.

Moderator Chenxing Han is the author of Be the Refuge: Raising the Voices of Asian American Buddhists; one long listening: a memoir of grief, friendship, and spiritual care; and over twenty articles and book chapters for both academic and mainstream audiences. She is a frequent speaker and workshop leader at schools, universities, and Buddhist communities across the nation, and currently serves as the Khyentse Visitor in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Michigan.

2023-12-27

Singapore

Jail for man who threatened doctors & nurses with Swiss Army knife & hurled vulgarities at them - drugs most likely to blame for his behaviour

Serangoon North shop owners frustrated over MRT construction barriers affecting sales

MOH says HIV disclosure law being reviewed - under current law, those with HIV/AIDS or who suspect themselves of having it must disclose their condition to their partner; advocacy groups argue that this is counterproductive to health goals

Singapore port hits all-time high of 3b gross tons in vessel arrivals this year

$15m plan by industry body to drive up chartered accountant numbers here

Indian family gets scammed trying to buy organic eggs off Facebook - they were sent a phishing link as usual, which they stupidly clicked on & used to enter their bank details, & now they are insisting that the banks take partial responsibility for their actions 😣

Money mule hiring spree goes digital as crime syndicates turn to Telegram

Bookshops, art dealers & theatre companies worry consumers will cut non-essential spending next year when GST is raised yet again - maybe then don't go into businesses like these if you're worried about making a decent living?! 🙄

30 people under probe after multi-agency anti-crime blitz in Geylang

2 women arrested for evading roadblock

Condo rents decreased for 4th consecutive month in Nov, but HDB rents rebounded

Science

Scientists destroy 99% of cancer cells in the lab using vibrating molecules - well, it's not 100%, & it wasn't done in humans

Nature

Reindeer can not only sleep with their eyes open, but also do other stuff (like chewing their food) while sleeping!

Art

^ This isn't a real human, but a sculpture!!! 😳

Home

Ceiling fan blade breaks off while in use - the family whose home the fan was installed in was luckily unharmed as they were not in the room; the fan had only been in use for 4 years

People

Parasite actor Lee Sun-Kyun found dead of apparent suicide - he'd been under investigation for drug use

Food

Stall owner in China beats customer up for adding "too much" vinegar to his meal - well, this just about sums up the Chinese mentality of everything revolving around $$$ & $$$ alone!!!

Gossip

K-pop star Park Bom's latest plastic surgery fail - those heavily plastic-surgeried pop stars & actresses all look like carbon copies of one another now

Entertainment

BBC's adaptation of Agatha Christie's "Murder Is Easy" sees protagonist changed from white colonial police officer to black Nigerian - when're they going to a do a black adaptation of Mulan or Pocahontas then? lol

As a University of Cambridge student from the mid-1990s, I remember most the vibrant atmosphere, the formidable academic traditions, and the opportunity to learn from distinguished professors. These made my every day truly remarkable. The stunning architecture of the colleges, especially at King’s, where I had weekly one-on-one consultations with my professors, and Trinity, with its picturesque courtyards, never failed to inspire me.

The rigorous academic curriculum of Cambridge Anthropology challenged me to push my boundaries and exceed my limitations. The program was pioneered by formidable figures like Audrey Richards, Reo Franklin Fortune, Meyer Fortes, Edmund Leach, Ernest Gellner, Jack Goody, Alan Macfarlane, Caroline Humphrey, and Marilyn Strathern, who reshaped the discipline with new approaches to ethnography, knowledge, and relationality.

From attending thought-provoking lectures at the Old Schools to engaging in stimulating debates in every pub across the city, every moment was an opportunity for intellectual growth. The Haddon Library of Archaeology and Anthropology became my sanctuary, where I spent countless hours immersed in books, absorbing knowledge from various movements.

Beyond academics, social life at Cambridge was equally exhilarating. The bustling student community, filled with individuals from diverse backgrounds and cultures, fostered a sense of camaraderie and lifelong friendships. My immediate circle of friends came from Estonia, India, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore. Our afternoon walks to Grantchester Mill Pond, daily stopovers to Cambridge University Press, Heffers, Oxfam, and Waterstones bookshops, late-night conversations in coffee shops, punting on and falling into the River Cam, participating in lively Clare Hall and Darwin lectures and viewing screenings of world cinema at Queen’s created memories that will forever be cherished.

5 Most Effective Digital Marketing Channels For Your Business

People used to visit bookshops to buy books a few years ago. Previously, automakers sold their vehicles in showrooms, and the textile industry had retail stores. Even if there are more shopping malls than ever before in Europe, internet buyers are also growing in number. By 2025, the world's population is expected to surpass 8 billion people, meaning that additional shopping resources will be needed to meet the requirements of the growing population.

Research by Global Shopping Centers claims that communication and technology have caused the world to contract. In the newly altered e-Commerce world, nations with a higher proportion of elderly residents, such as South Korea, Japan, Singapore, and North America, may appear to be a little more difficult. However, because of its immediate global online presence and quick return on investment, e-Commerce is preferred by small and medium-sized firms.

It is imperative to assess your online marketing methods in order to grow your business since the competition is escalating and more consumers are switching to online businesses.

Discovering the most inventive and money-making digital channels for marketing your company is the easiest approach to entering the world of online marketing.

Ever thought about the contemplations while deciding the best computerized promoting channels for your business? Each business is unique. Accordingly, before you can decide on the best-advanced advertising channels for your business, here are a few vital questions:

What is your brand message?

What are your business objectives?

What are your promoting objectives?

Where could your ideal interest group be?

What is your spending plan?

5 Most Powerful Digital Marketing Channels  

#1 Video Advertising

One of the most predominant advanced promoting patterns today and logical for the following 5-10 years is video advertising. These insights delineate the significance of integrating video, into your computerized showcasing system:

70% of customers say that they have shared a brand's video

72% of organizations say that video has further developed their change rate

52% of customers say that watching item recordings makes them feel secure.

65% of chiefs visit the advertiser's site and 39 percent call a merchant subsequent.

A video showcasing not just has been demonstrated to assemble brand mindfulness, but on the other hand, it's very powerful in helping your traffic and changes.

To accomplish a more extensive reach and increment your possibilities of appearing in web search tools, disperse your recordings on locales like YouTube and Vimeo. Clients view more than one billion hours of video every day on YouTube.

One more approach to successfully utilize video and increment changes is to have it on your site. The justification for why video is so significant on your site is on the grounds that it empowers you to convey your character. It likewise uses impact and influence, to a more noteworthy limit than only the composed word. Get in touch with Net Content today to work with digital marketing experts who understand the power of utilizing video for online marketing!

#2 Social Media Marketing 

The most recent online entertainment advertising insights show that 73% of advertisers accept that virtual entertainment promotion has been "fairly powerful" or "exceptionally successful" for their business. Besides, 54% of social programs utilize online entertainment to explore items.

71% of buyers who have had a positive involvement in a brand via online entertainment are probably going to prescribe the brand to their loved ones.

One of the ways of utilizing web-based entertainment to develop clients is to make unique virtual entertainment content, like web journals and video, and offer it on your virtual entertainment stages like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

You can use these stages to increment video sharing and photo sharing. Furthermore, draw in your crowds by getting clarification on some pressing issues. Most fundamentally, speedily answer questions and answer remarks. The social media marketing services on offer by Net Content include graphic design, copywriting, and more. Get in touch today!

#3 Content Marketing

Utilization of content is another of the best-computerized advertising channels for delivering ROI. Content marketing can produce multiple times the leads for around 62% not exactly conventional showcasing. Leads are individuals who are probably going to purchase your item and become faithful clients, as you sustain that relationship, which is not the same as site traffic.

Bits of special substance incorporates blog entries, infographics, video content, news, agendas, contextual analyses, online classes, and white papers — which are brilliant lead magnets. 

Ponder which ones will be best in addressing your interest group, contingent upon where they are in the five phases of the purchasing cycle and how they consume data.

To increment natural traffic and lead age, you should convey steady, great substance. This sort of traffic is neglected and produced by clients who track down your site subsequent to utilizing web indexes. When you have extraordinary substance, advance it!

The absolute best vehicles to advance substance is through customized email advertising and sharing your posts via virtual entertainment. These are only some of the ways of getting traffic to your main site and creating leads. Come work with us to increase your online revenue!

#4 SEO

SEO is one of the top patrons among all advanced promoting channels. Present-day natural web index showcasing assists you with advancing your business as well as works on your internet-based deals and changes by making your site securer for guests and expanding SERPs. A blog is one of the critical devices to speak with clients and enhance your business.

With regards to contriving a computerized showcasing technique, content is consistently the ruler. Publishing content to a blog is a wellspring of inbound showcasing strategies and as per Hubspot, inbound strategies produce a 54% bigger number of leads than paid promoting. Our SEO experts help you with optimal strategies to secure amazing ranks on search engines!

#5 Google Ads

Google Ads is the most famous Search Ads and PPC stage. It began as Google Adwords, a method for promoting watchwords on Google Search. As you might be aware, Google is the most utilized web crawler, with a piece of the pie of over 90% in many nations. With time, Adwords (presently Google Ads) likewise included Display crusades (where you can put picture or message advertisements on any of the sites that have a place with the Google Display Network), Shopping Campaigns, and Video Campaigns.

Conclusion

The purchaser's process has changed immensely throughout the past 10 years. How and where we view data has become primarily advanced. Customary media, like TV, print, and radio, has gradually been on a decline. Modern media, or computerized media, has turned into an essential concentration for advertisers. There are many purposes behind this shift.

Computerized showcasing assists organizations with arriving at their ideal interest group really and reliably. You can enhance a mission to make progress on a month-to-month, week-by-week, and, surprisingly, everyday level. This makes a computerized crusade inconceivably adaptable and custom-made to your business objectives.

It likewise can assist you with assessing changes to help crusade achievement. While working with a showcasing accomplice that comprehends your image, a business can arrive at its objectives through a wide range of computerized promoting arrangements all the more successfully. Would you like to study how to decide on the best-advanced advertising channels for your business? Reach us today, to begin the discussion.

The digital marketing services on offer by Net Content are SEO, Content Marketing, Social Media Marketing, PPC marketing, eCommerce Marketing, and Brand Management!

Would an interview saved Kirinmaru from all of the doom and gloom here? [Read it on A03]

≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫

It has been a while since I posted a new chapter for With Bookshops and Friends, which is not a spin-off (Yes aww yesss), and this time I am tackling with Kouga and the interviews, which is my observations at work.

I really hope you enjoy that little story of mine, as personally it took me a while to write that story with grace due to personal reasons as I based Kouga on a colleague I know.

And as always thank you @fawn-eyed-girl​ for reading through my mess, and understanding my Singaporean AF nature (Which guys do not worry, I placed a list for the terms)

One more thing thank you for all who nominated me in @feudalconnection for best serial for that series, I am very very touched to see people believing my work and I hope I can bring a piece of Singapore to you guys 🥺

Also thanking the @inu-mothership​ for allowing me write the friendship of Koga and Kirinmaru as it is so fun.

Singapore > elensham

Missing BooksActually, but sending books to my parents with their free local delivery! 💗📚

#Banners for #BecauseTheNight @theatreworkssg #7213 #Singapore by @hanson_ho #HansonHo #H55 #goodjob #bookshop #secondhand #secondhandbookshop #books #book #night (at 72-13)

Dear respected Team / Family / Sir / madam we doing book retail business all over the world kindly request contact us to get great happy service to give you & your family #kids #kidsbooks website :- https://lnkd.in/e5Rf9TwF #business #team #retail #UAE #almunna #GCC #Sale #buy #family #schools #school #247support #dubai #abudhabi #ajman #sharjah #uk #canada #news #dubainews #qatar #oman #US #unitedstatesofamerica #unitedarabemirates #wolesale #worldwidebusiness #globalbusiness #schoolcontract #UAE #Europe #europeanmarkets #europeanbuyers #Asia #Pakistan #indiabusiness #indian #expo2020 #fifaworldcup #fifa2022 #karachi #doha #education #book #publishers #publisher #library #support #helpingeachother #supportingeachother #askingforhelp #retail #work #ordernow #alfuttaim #india #French #worldschool #australia #islam #learning #business #oxford #store #storybook #bookcoverdesign #knowledgesharing #knowledge #everydaylearning #everychildmatters #everyplace #whereeverythingconnects #collage #children #parents #parentsupport #kuwait #bookskinokuniya #whsmith #apple #hindi #urdu #english #hindu #muslim #christian #buddhist #religion #religions #class #classroom #england #british #italy #linkedin #majidalfuttaim #MAF #ccc #alec #stationery #mall #malls #language #dubainews #news #goodnews #offer #offers #bookshop #bookshops #booking #bookdesign #bookformat #bookmatch #bookkeeping #bookkeepingtips #london #poland #germany #job #jobsnews #jobhelp #jobalert #alert #china #chinabusiness #businessandmanagement #businessanalystjobs #merchandiser #merchandising #merchandisers #HR #hrcareers #humanresources #HC #HumanCapital #doha #arabworld #arabic #malaysia #indonesia #jordan #switzerland #norway #France #luxembourg #netherlands #japan #sweden #Singapore #Denmark #Belgium #Finland #saudiarabia #HongKong #Brunei #support #helpingeachother #supportingeachother #askingforhelp #emaar #pearson #ReedElsevier #ThomsonReuters #wolterskluwer #RandomHouse #HachetteLivre #GrupoPlaneta #McGrawHillEducation #Holtzbrinck #Scholasticcorp #Cengage #Wiley #DeAgostiniEditore #Shueisha #Kodansha #SpringerScienceandBusinessMedia #HoughtonMifflinHarcourt #Shogakukan #HarperCollins #promoting #advertise #advertisement #share #Informa #oxforduniversitypress #ChinaPublishingGroupCorporate #PhoenixPublishingandMediaCompany #publisher #media #KadokawaPublishing #GrupoSantillana #Bonnier #Gakken #EgmontGroup #SimonandSchuster #ChinaEducationandMediaGroup #WoongjinThinkBig #Klett #Cornelsen #ReadersDigest #Mondadori #MessagerieGeMS #MediaParticipations #LefebvreSarrut #AbrilEducação #Harlequin #Sanoma #Perseus #CambridgeUniversityPress #WestermannVerlagsgruppe #LaMartinièreGroupe #Flammarion #RCSLibri #GroupeGallimard #Kyowon #Bungeishunju #HaufeGruppe #Weka #OLMAMediaGroup #Shinchosha #EKSMO #EditionsAtlas #Saraiva #GroupeAlbinMichel #EditoraFTD #AST #amazon #amazonbooks #amazonbook #onlinebookstore #onlinebookings #onlinebusiness #onlineclasses #onlinecourse #alibaba #aliexpress #kg 

Places I am missing today:

the french patisserie and deli in Bath which does the amazing pistachio macarons

the terrace above the Giardino Giusti in Verona, among the lemon trees

my favourite writing café in my small town. They make an exception so the dog can come in with me

the Scandinavian café in my closest city, a vegan cinnamon bun and a matcha latte

Namsan Park in Seoul, walking hand in hand on a clear autumn day

the big Japanese bookshop in Singapore, with the amazing stationery section

the tram in Vienna at night, passing the opera house

the S-Bahn in Berlin after a gig

Turin early in the morning, walking to work along Via Po

the train to Tokyo, listening to an audiobook and watching the scenery

the Ponte Vecchio at nearly midnight, full of good food and good wine, walking quietly with a colleague after a long day of work

soft late-summer dusk in Toronto, standing in the queue for gelato with my friend

The world is so wide and so beautiful.

Social distancing is a privilege. Staying at home is a privilege. But today I miss the world.

imagine . . .  ok but imagine another side of the world  (  i’m digging Singapore  )  with their own secret service organisation   --   so Kingsman have a tailor shop front ,  Statesman sell alcohol and this one ,  name tbc ,  have a bookshop front .   and it's an archaic  -  style library with spiral staircases and  ' reading rooms '   -----   one of which can lead to an underground system .   they also have a classic   " move a book , open a secret door "   system .  they have their own   " Oxfords not Brogues "  motto ,  something to do with a book ,  something to do with that true nobility quote from Hemingway ,  that harry used in the first movie .   they've also ,  very much unlike Kingsman ,  evolved with the times   ---   so they've created a mobile app which is the best selling bookstore app in the world ,  also serving as a tracking device if need be .   AND THEIR AGENT ALIASES ARE NAMED AFTER BOOK AUTHORS